There was no net. No gate. No wall. No fishing line wrapped around either whale. And open ocean was not far away. Yet a humpback mother and her calf remained […]
When people first spotted the two enormous shapes moving through California’s inland waterways in May 2007, there was something immediately wrong with the picture. They were humpback whales. One was […]
At first, there were three of them. Three gray whales. A sheet of Arctic ice above them. And only a few small patches of black water where they could reach […]
The newborn had been alive for only minutes. Yet one of the first things it had to do was something every whale must eventually do alone. Reach the surface. Breathe. […]
Maya could see her mother. That was the cruelest part. The young orca was inside a small working harbor on a cold North Pacific coast. Her mother was outside. Only […]
Nera could see her mother. That was what made everything worse. The young orca was inside a narrow tidal lagoon along a remote northern coastline. Her mother was outside. Between […]
When the young orca heard other killer whales beyond the net, something changed almost immediately. Springer had just completed a long journey north and was recovering inside a temporary sea […]
When the young orca was returned to seawater, something changed almost immediately. After spending time in a temporary pool beside the coast, the calf was moved back into a sea […]
The temperature over the remote Arctic fjord had plummeted to a bitter sub-zero threshold overnight. When marine researchers aboard an ice-strengthened research vessel peered through the heavy morning mist, the […]
At first, the movement looked ordinary. A young orca was swimming steadily through a narrow coastal channel surrounded by dark forest and cold water. Ahead of her stood a small […]